Nicki Minaj And Lil’ Kim Are ‘RapFix’ Favorites For A Reason

Celebrity Favorites: [artist id=”1595900″]Maino[/artist]
Do the ladies run this mutha? After being deprived of rap femininity for a few years, it seems that women are once again a hot topic in the hip-hop conversation.

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Take Wednesday’s “RapFix Live” one-year anniversary show
, for instance. Not only is [artist id=”710288″]Trina[/artist] making an appearance, but in two separate pre-show fan polls, [artist id=”3055069″]Nicki Minaj[/artist] and [artist id=”934″]Lil’ Kim[/artist] are leading otherwise male-dominated categories. Minaj is currently leading for Best “RapFix Live” Freestyle, and the Queen Bee is the leading vote-getter in the Best “RapFix” Moment poll.

It’s especially interesting considering that the two ladies were tangled in one of the biggest rap beefs of the year as well. Maino knows both Kim and Nicki, and when he appeared on Sway’s Shade 45 morning radio show, he broke down the talents of both.

“I told her years ago that if I believed in any new female, I really felt like she actually had it because she rapped very feminine, she had a lot of style with her,” Maino said of his early interactions with Nicki. “I saw her coming years ago, way before her name was even Nicki Minaj. I saw her actually being able to do it.”

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When Maino first came into the game with his debut single “Rumors,” Lil’ Kim was an early supporter, helping him navigate his way through the industry.

“Kim is legendary, man; household name that’s gonna last forever,” he said. “I just don’t think that she maintained the work ethic to maintain what we wanted her to have, and that’s to be in the spotlight continuously. Some people are not built for that 10-year run of nonstop working, like a Jay-Z.”

The “Hi Hater” rapper said that, with today’s fans, the only thing that matters is current hits, and while Kim has a powerful catalog, she needs some new bangers to return her to rap prominence.

“She took time off. When you take time off, you kind of hurt yourself, because in this game, they judge you by today,” he said before offering advice to his onetime collaborator: “Get back to making hot music, because at the end of the day, that’s all it is.”